


i want your midnights

by theissueonthetable



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: (lafayette is a background character but i'm still tagging it ok), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Friends to Lovers, New Year's Eve, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, Nonbinary Marquis de Lafayette, Nonbinary Peggy Schuyler, Referenced past abuse, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and by 'way too many' i mean like 2, everyone is a diehard marliza stan and peggy will go down with this ship, is there a tag for oblivious wlw?, way too many taylor swift references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 21:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17231249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theissueonthetable/pseuds/theissueonthetable
Summary: Maria spins the paper cup around, knowing that Peggy most likely wrote something incriminating on it, and gives a panicked screech.“Peggy, what if she sees this?” she gasps when she sees step four taken care of on the side: “Are you Little Caesars? Because you’re hot and I’m ready.”“I tried to make it look like your handwriting so she would think you wrote it,” Peggy explains.or, Maria creates a list of ways to get Eliza to fall in love with her in time to be her New Year's kiss and Peggy is the wingman we all need.





	i want your midnights

**Author's Note:**

> hello enjoy my contribution to the best but most underrated ship of them all: marliza friends to lovers. title is from new year's day by taylor swift. 
> 
> also, giving maria a career in politics and [this](https://www.instagram.com/p/BrLTSFaBitW/) dress for new years is completely fan service.
> 
> warnings!: there's mentions of past abuse and maria has a panic attack midway through. it starts with "It's 2 AM." the scene is over by "Maria smiles happily as she struts along the brick path." recap in case you have to skip it because your mental health is important and the scene is not: maria doubts herself, but ultimately talks herself down because she's put A Lot of work into her mental health.

Peanut butter and jellies are safe and easy, Maria told herself before ending up with jelly in her hair and peanut butter along her arms. She finishes wrapping the sandwiches in plastic wrap and placing them in their plain brown paper bags and makes her way into the bathroom, running water up and down her peanut butter-coated arms and pulling at her thick curls, now sticky and sugary. She tries her best, but the only thing that can definitely get the jelly out of her hair would be a wash, which she doesn’t have time for.

Maria sighs and resigns to the kitchen, where she snags the paper bags from the countertop. Her shoes lay beside the door, next to her coat that’s splayed along the back of the couch. She pulls on each garment, not bothering to untie her beaten up but still white sneakers, only to tie them again.

The school is in walking distance- about ten minutes. The watch on her wrist tells Maria that Eliza’s gets out in twenty minutes, although they’ll definitely be staying longer as Eliza grades papers and revises lesson plans. This gives her enough time to check in at the front desk, grab a visitor’s badge, and find the classroom. Today is November 22nd, meaning that Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow, so this is the last time Maria will be bringing Eliza lunch until December. December technically isn’t far away and the break only lasts one week, but Maria can’t help to turn a little sentimental.

Not including her previous jobs at daycares, Eliza began her student teaching with second graders and from then on, was determined to land a job teaching seven year olds. In Eliza’s eyes, elementary aged kids were bright angels with so much potential to be detected and nurtured as they learn and grow. To Maria, the little shits were snotty creeps. Adorable and funny, but absolute gremlins fed after midnight. Then again, Eliza’s inventory of patience with children is as bottomless as Mary Poppins’ purse (which Maria know because a few weeks after standardized testing is completed, Eliza succumbs her students (and Maria) to binging Julie Andrews films) and her kindness too pure for the world. Maria is... less patient and more impulsive.

Still, she finds herself wanting a little gremlin for herself. She blames Eliza for that. Coming home with cute stories about something her students did that day warms Maria’s heart. A part of her has always wanted to be a mother, but hearing about the birthday card Eliza’s students created for her without prompting or how good Theo is at reading or how much Georges is improving on his English or how one child just won’t take off his Slytherin scarf has given her the ability to imagine her imagine a life with a child in it.

Mothering, she thinks she can do. Teaching, on the other hand, takes a special amount of natural composition that Maria hasn’t been gifted with.

Maria has a foot in the door as a Senator’s aide. She’s risen a considerable amount above her station for her young twenty-two years and poverty-stricken upbringing. What began as an unpaid summer internship quickly became a full-time position once Washington took a special notice of her hard work, good heartedness, and potential. Since then, the man she’s admired and voted for since she turned eighteen has become a boss and a mentor. Needless to say, Maria is ambitious and optimistic. She’s hopeful and out to change the world for the better. She also owed Eliza for her frustrated complaints about school law which opened Maria’s eyes to the complications and Catch-22s the government places on teachers and schools. This new knowledge lead her to boldly introduce herself to Washington and advise the Senator on his education policy. Her outspoken demand for the Senator to take a more prominent stance on education is what earned her his attention and made him take her seriously as an intern.

“Hi, Mrs. Ross,” Maria greets cheerfully upon being allowed through the school’s front doors and passing quietly pass the metal detectors.

“Mulligan,” she says in a deep voice with a nod to the burly security guard. He tilts his head up in a quick nod back.

Maria and Mulligan- Hercules, that is- have a  _ thing _ going. With him being a part of her relative circle of friends, she regularly hangs out with him, both in a group setting and alone. The playful man full of mirth began mocking her sometime within their second meeting. Though he’s a gentle giant, he puts on a teasing facade of a tall, dark, serious figure when seeing Maria in public. There are times when they pretend to be spies or detectives as they’re both good at getting to the root source of a mystery. Or intimidating and testing their friends’ prospective or terrible partners. Overall, she’d say that she and Hercules are a team.

“Here for Eliza?” Mrs. Ross asks with a smile. The white-haired lady well into her seventies used to be a teacher but moved into administration. Around twenty years ago, she began having a hard time standing and talking all day. However, she soon became bored with retirement and wanted to have a job that involves children. Being a secretary at the elementary school was the perfect way to do so. The paperwork and visitor vetting kept her busy but allowed her to sit, and she was around children enough to enjoy them and have fun, but not so often as to become worn-out.

“Of course,” Maria replies smoothly.

Mrs. Ross holds out an already filled-in nametag for Maria that says “Future Madam President”. Eliza must’ve filled it out, anticipating Maria’s arrival. Of course. Maria pulls the sticker off of it’s paper and places it over her heart.

Maria gives the secretary a cheerful smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Ross.”

Before she begins her trek to Room 203, Maria gives Mulligan The Nod once more.

“See you Friday, Lewis,” he says, unable to help breaking out in a small smile.

Hercules and Maria initially became friends when he arrived at the bar with Maria’s co-workers, Alexander, John, and Lafayette. More like Hercules thrust his friendship upon Maria. The three of them work with Washington as well. Typically, she wasn’t one to genuinely befriend coworkers, but she couldn’t resist Alexander’s stimulating conversation and workaholic tendencies, John’s humor and unabashed laughter, and Lafayette’s accent and puppy eyes which they pulled on her when they asked her to come for drinks with their friends for Alex’s birthday.

“We’re trying to get him away from work for one night,” Lafayette had said in secret. “I don’t even think he realizes it’s his birthday, so I think it’s turning into a surprise party.”

That’s how over a year ago, she met Hercules, who’s been her partner in crime-slash-partner in detecting crime ever since.

In response, she flips him off and walks away. They tease each other, but in reality, Maria can’t wait to be in his company on Saturday’s movie night.

As she travels through the hallways that carry the distinct smell that only schools host, students initiate leaving their classrooms as the intercom announces the arrival of their respective buses. She dodges most of the little bodies as she makes her way to Eliza’s classroom.

Finally, she arrives at Room 203 and opens the door, intentionally neglecting to knock or announce her presence, knowing that this is the time where Eliza is directing children on what to do as they await their bus and cannot be distracted, lest a little kid boards the wrong bus or misses theirs. As it turns out, most of the class is either drawing or reading. Being so expressive herself, Eliza has always encouraged an artistic environment for her students. Currently, she’s drawing with one student and reviewing another’s. Most of her work is multitasking. For all of the work and multitasking that Maria does, she’ll never understand how Eliza dips in and out from one nonsensical conversation to the next, seamlessly appearing as though she’s engaged in ten interactions at once. Children don’t even  _ make sense _ when they talk. How does Eliza follow along their nonlinear speech?

Maria notices how good Eliza is with kids and  _ Jesus what is that feeling in her chest? _

Eliza looks up at Maria and smiles like the sun. Their friends tease Eliza for her Maria Smile ™; or, the goofy smile she wears only when she sees Maria, but Eliza never seems to mind or counteract their claims that she has a special Look for her best friend.

_ Oh. _

Butterflies. That’s the feeling in her chest and stomach.

-

Maria has no idea how she’s going to drink around Eliza anymore. She’s even more honest when she’s intoxicated than sober. How can she trust herself to not get drunk and spill her secret to her friend? Thank fucking god, their friend group is having a movie night in at Eliza’s apartment instead of going to a bar as they occasionally do on Saturday nights. Once Maria shuts Eliza’s door behind her and turns to scan the room, she sees Alexander, John, and Lafayette all cuddled around Hercules on the pull out couch. The scene is really quite adorable. Alexander is small, but filled with caffeine. He tries to act larger than he is- or at least, not tiny- which only makes him look like a raging, scrappy try-hard. John, on the other hand, isn’t necessarily or markedly tall, but still towers over Alexander. Maybe it’s because he carries himself so boldly, like he’s larger than life itself, or how he throws his head back when he laughs loudly, or how his eyes light up when his temper arises.

And then there’s Lafayette, who’s technically a fucking giant but isn’t nearly as intimidating as Hercules. They’re sinewy and elegant and rest their elbow on Alexander’s head to lean on the poor kid when they’re looking to playfully antagonize their  _ petit lion _ . Technically, Lafayette and Hercules are the same height, but Hercules is ripped even compared to the youngest in their little Revolutionary Set with his fucking gigantic muscles and booming voice. That and former ballet dancer Lafayette is muscular in a lean way, whereas Hercules looks like he can pick up a freight truck without breaking a sweat. The hopeful diplomat and tailor’s apprentice both have the widest, most brilliant smiles Maria’s ever had the joy to be the cause of.

“Hi, guys!” Eliza calls, hanging up her coat. Although she seems to have a kind shyness about her in her daily life, she has a rough, playful edge, a loudness that appears only around her closest friends. Throughout her scarce bouts of temper, she’s given a good reason to be angry. Like John, her anger shows in her eyes and her upper lip.

“Hey, y’all,” Maria greets, softer than Eliza but with a little wave.

“Come in, we’re watching  _ Hercules _ ,” Alexander says with a smirk.

“Like hell we are,” Hercules insists and pushes Alexander off the edge of the pull-out couch as the poor kid squawks and makes an attempt to grab onto John’s sleeve.

“Yeah, we’re watching  _ Beauty and the Beast _ ,” John says with a pointed smirk at his French-American friend.

“ _ Tais-toi _ . Shut your mouth, you  _ petit _ fucker,” Lafayette growls and flicks John’s freckled nose harshly.

“Ouch!” John hisses.

Eliza giggles, closer than Maria thought. She snakes her arms around Maria’s waist and rests her head on her shoulder. Maria nearly jumps instinctively, but stops herself to avoid making a scene or acting noticeably peculiarly. Her heart, however, continues jumping.

The physical closeness is far from atypical for Eliza and Maria. Eliza is the more affectionate of the two, preferring kisses on cheeks and cuddling over Maria’s usual deflective but playful sarcasm. Because everything Eliza did was so genuine and earnest. Maria would never admit it to anyone else, not even Eliza, but she’s found herself going from leaning in only slightly to the touches to initiating them.

At first, the touches truly frightened her. When she met Eliza and stumbled into their friend group- which Alexander keeps attempting to dub “The Hamilsquad” to everyone’s nuisance- she’d just left James. She feared physical touch, felt unsafe, and wouldn’t raise her voice above a whisper or untuck her hands from under her arms. Eliza, who was so naturally affectionate, was patient and understanding, never asked until Maria was ready to tell. Maria can’t discredit herself for all of the hard work she put in to function despite her trauma and realize her self-worth, but Eliza’s open touches helped her become accustomed to contact again.

But now? Eliza’s physical affection is nerve wracking again. Of course, in a new way. She doesn’t feel unsafe, just… nervous. She worries that Eliza can feel how much her pulse has picked up or how her breathing has become strikingly uneven.

“You okay?” Eliza whispers discreetly in Maria’s ear.

Maria forces a smile and stutters out, “Yeah,” she starts but clears her throat as her voice breaks, “I mean yeah, ha, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem a little anxious,” Eliza says. “I don’t think anyone else can tell. I just know you really well.”

Ugh, as if Maria needs reminding. If anything, the fact that her friend knows her inside out only makes her more nervous. Is she that obvious? What if Eliza already knows?

“I’m okay,” Maria says, trying to be reassuring but failing if the look on Eliza’s face says anything.

“Okay, but if you need to go home early, just let me know,” Eliza says. She pulls away with a loud kiss to Maria’s cheek. “Mwah!”

As she walks away, jumping onto the couch, Maria is left to stare at the blank television screen while trying to relax.

-

Maria slams her head against the table and whines, “Is it too much to ask for her to just love me and we can get married and have a thousand babies together?”

“Only if you don’t communicate it to her,” Aaron says calmly. He’s always so collected. The cool lake to her fierce, untameable wildfire.

“She’ll never feel the same,” she insists.

“Maria,” Aaron says with a frown. “You never know until you ask her.”

“Guess I’ll just never know, then,” Maria sighs, not looking up from where she has her head in her arms. It’s a miracle that Aaron can understand her muffled speech.

“Maria,” Aaron urges. In a miraculous event, he seems to be losing a little bit of his patience, a crack in the brick wall. Alexander would love to be here to see this. “You know how John and Alex look at each other?”

Maria scoffs, “Yeah.” Those two idiots are incredibly in love. Witnessing the tenderness toward each other is both terrifying and sickening in the sweetest ways.

“That’s how Eliza looks at you.”

Maria groans and changes the subject.

-

Maria sits at her desk and sighs, holding the white towel wrapped around her body where it is by tucking the fabric under her arms. Okay. She can do this. She can reason things out instead of immediately reacting with her emotions.

She begins writing  _ Pros _ on one side of the paper and  _ Cons _ on the other in her loopy cursive.

_ Pros _

_ maybe my feelings are returned _

_ and if they’re not, at least i got it off of my chest _

_ Cons _

_ these are unlikely hypotheticals _

_ i could lose my friendship with Eliza _

She scratches out the last con. Eliza and Maria are close and neither of them are the type to lose a friendship over feelings. Distance while Maria sorts out her feelings, maybe. But quitting her best friend? Eliza isn’t like that.

“Maria!” she hears. Right. Eliza is coming over today and they’re going roller skating with the rest of the friend group, which Alexander keeps trying to dub “The Hamilsquad”, much to the annoyance and resistance of literally everyone else. She must’ve let herself into Maria’s apartment with her key Maria gave her for Christmas last year.

Desperate to hide any evidence of her internal conflict, she panics, opens the drawer attached to her desk rushedly enough to nearly break the piece and slams it shut, careful to keep her towel around her body.

“Maria? Are you okay?” Eliza asks. Her voice gets nearer, so Maria stands, checks her face in the mirror. Fuck, okay, she’s blushing, which isn’t necessarily something she can easily fix. Right as she resigns to her fate, Eliza walks in the room.

“Hey,” Eliza says softly and smiles. She looks out of breath.

“Hi,” Maria says, helpless to hold back a smile even in her moment of panic.

They stare at each other for a bit too long with goofy grins. Then, Eliza furrows her brows and makes her way across the tan carpeted room only to press her cold hands against Maria’s forehead. Maria yelps and jumps back a little, holding her towel close to her chest to prevent the only thing covering her from falling to the ground and leaving her exposed. Eliza takes Maria’s free hand and tugs her a little closer.

“Maria, stay still,” Eliza orders.

Maria isn’t typically one to blush, but she’s certain that red heat is making its way up her cheeks.

“Your forehead is warm,” Eliza quips. “Do you have a fever? Maybe I should take your temperature. Do you want to just stay home tonight?”

“No, I, um,” Maria tries, a little exasperated by Eliza’s worrying. “I just showered and uh, the water. The water was too hot. You know, steam.”

It’s not a  _ lie  _ necessarily. She got out of the shower twenty minutes ago which would’ve been enough time gone by for her face to cool down, but for all Eliza knows, Maria could’ve just left the unbearable heat of the shower. She  _ is  _ still wearing a towel, after all.

“Oh, okay,” Eliza says, probably seeing through Maria’s telling stuttering but leaving it alone. “Well, do you want to start getting ready, then?”

Maria smiles and perks up. “Yes!”

Five minutes later, Maria is dressed and they’re in the bathroom, doing their makeup over the sink counter and blasting Eliza’s playlist for getting ready, filled with songs that are fun to sing and dance along to. But then it’s not fun when “Jump Then Fall” by Taylor Swift comes on. Maria stutters at first, but goes back to using a tube of mascara as a microphone. She mouths most of the lyrics that she’s not totally familiar with. She’s avoided Taylor Swift and most love songs since she realized her feelings for her best friend.

The blush brush Eliza is holding to use as a microphone explodes with a sufficient amount of white setting powder when it hits Eliza’s nose. The look on Eliza’s face mixed with the white powder on her nose and forehead sends Maria into a fit of laughter.

Eliza keeps going after the initial shock of the makeup in her face. “I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard,” she sings, smiling at Maria.

Maria tries not to take it too personally. To get out of her head, she takes Eliza’s cheek in one hand and uses the other hand to take a clean brush from the blue, marble countertop and brush off the setting powder on Eliza’s face. She doesn’t take into consideration that being that close to Eliza’s face might only put her in her head even more.

“There,” Maria says chipperly, taking a step back to look back at her work.

Now, Eliza’s face is free of any makeup mishaps. She always looks so neat and fresh-faced with her straight hair and white smile, but tonight, her makeup is a little heavier than usual. God, she’s pretty. Maria is in deeper than she thought.

“Thank you,” Eliza says softly, almost down to a whisper.

“Yeah,” Maria says, equally as breathless.

Eliza goes back to her peppy self. “I love each freckle on your face!” she sings, tapping Maria’s freckled nose because apparently, she takes some enjoyment out of making Maria’s life really hard.

Then, “You should wear red lipstick,” Eliza notes. “It always looks so good on you.”

“Yeah, I was, um, thinking about it,” Maria says. “Thank you.”

“Here, let me,” Eliza offers, already uncapping a tube of Maria’s favorite color.

And really, it’s not necessary. Eliza doesn’t  _ need _ to be this close to Maria’s face, touching her lips. Maria is a grown woman with fully functioning hands who can apply her own makeup. She doesn’t  _ need _ an exceptionally beautiful woman who smells like jasmine and lilac to send her into panic mode. Regardless of her feelings, she stays still and keeps her mouth pliant for Eliza to drag the lipstick along her bottom lip.

Eliza steps back. “There!” she says happily.

Maria looks in the mirror and okay, yeah, Eliza applied the lipstick perfectly. Much better than what Maria could’ve done herself. Plus, Eliza looks absolutely elated and if her unbridled joy and pride means Maria gets a little nervous, it’s worth it.

They both take a final look in the mirror. Eliza runs her fingers through her hair to keep it straight as Maria twists her curls a bit, inspecting them. She straightens out her t-shirt and hikes up her blue jeans.

“Should I cut my hair?” she asks without thinking. Her hair falls nearly below her chest and she’s getting sick of having to care for the long curls. She doesn’t realize it’s something she wants until she says it out loud.

Eliza looks at her, scans her up and down. “Right now?” she questions.

Maria sighs, feeling a little sad and desperate for something new about herself. The thought sounds like a big change that she’s already trying to emotionally prepare herself for.

“I don’t think I have time,” she says. “Plus, I’d have to clean it up and stuff.”

“We have an hour before we have to leave,” Eliza offers, wanting to encourage Maria to make her own decision without pushing her boundaries as a friend.

Maria stares at her reflection. Sometimes- well, a lot of the time- she doesn’t like looking so feminine with her long tresses and sundresses. Out of seemingly nowhere, she becomes determined to cut her hair, knows it’s what she needs. If she did it now, it’d be impulsive, but patience was never her virtue. Plus, Eliza thinks before she acts enough for the both of them.

Sort of. Eliza isn’t impulsive, per se. Much like Lafayette, she thinks quickly and once her mind is made up, her decisions are written in stone. The conclusions that she comes to, although she comes to them fast, are well thought out. Eliza could easily be a fierce leader or someone happy to just assist. Apparently, she was a stage manager back in her high school’s drama club. That kind of work, Maria thinks, is perfect for her. Something creative where she can lead and make sure everything goes smoothly, but remain behind the curtain. Plus, she had some  _ hilarious _ stories from drama club that Maria gets in stitches over hearing.

Maria doesn’t take her eyes off of her reflection for a moment. She hasn’t cut her hair in over two years and even then, her hair was below her shoulders. The curliness makes her hair seem to grow slower than it really does. When her hair is straightened, it falls nearly to her waist. Since she last cut it, she’s made friends who love and care for her, achieved so many career goals, and made big steps toward trauma recovery.

Maria turns to Eliza. “Will you do it?” she asks before she can take it back. Eliza is so neat, able to avoid messes, and Maria trusts her to do this.

“Yeah,” Eliza says with a nod. She isn’t smiling, but Maria can see the meaningful content on her face. Although they haven’t spoken it aloud, she seems to understand how important this is to Maria.

“Are you sure?” Maria asks.

“Are  _ you  _ sure?” is what she’s asked in return.

Maria gives a small smile and says, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Eliza gives her a full-hearted smile in return. “Scissors?”

“In the medicine cabinet,” Maria says, pulling a towel off of its rack to prevent hair getting all over her clothes by wrapping it around her shoulders.

A minute later and Maria and Eliza are looking at each other. Making eye contact through the mirror.

“Where do you want me to cut it to?” Eliza asks.

“Here,” Maria says, determined, placing an index finger where her shoulder meets her neck.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Eliza confirms. “Are you ready?”

Maria nods. Eliza stares at long-haired Maria one last time.

“This is really meaningful for you, isn’t it?”

Maria nods again, slower now.

Eliza tugs at a curl and clips it off, discarding the lock to the floor so they can sweep it up afterward. Maria stares at herself and Eliza in the mirror the entire time.

An hour later, Maria is fluffing up her hair again in the passenger seat overhead mirror. She smiles and lets out a small, happy noise. “It’s so short!” she squeals.

Eliza smiles in the driver’s seat and runs a hand through Maria’s hair without taking her eyes off of the road. Maria’s locks were always tangled no matter what she did, but now that they’re short, they’re a little easier to play with.

“Maria, I’m proud of you,” Eliza says. “I know this is a big deal for you.”

She takes Maria’s hand and keeps their fingers interlocked for the rest of the ride.

-

“Ma! Ri! A!” John shouts when she and Eliza enter the skate center. He runs to her with full speed, stomps as he slows down in time to pick her up, and spins her around. “You look so  _ good _ !”

“Thank you, John!” she says happily with her arms still around his shoulders.

“You cut your hair!” Alex shouts from where he’s standing after lacing up his roller skates. He’s staying still to avoid moving and inevitably falling.

“Actually, I cut her hair,” Eliza notes, her want for attention only a playful ruse because she knows that Maria doesn’t like too much attention on herself at once.

Alex tries to send her a thumbs up and promptly falls on his ass, much to John’s worry and everyone else’s entertainment. Lafayette and Eliza both howl with laughter.

Eliza turns to her and says lowly enough for only Maria to hear, “You do look really good, Maria.”

Maria leaps to hug her, dragging Eliza down to her height. “Thank you, Betsey.” Eliza returns the embrace in earnest.

As they go about renting skates and tying up the laces, Maria receives more compliments on her hair from friends, even Jefferson, who typically only compliments himself and James. Jemmy, he calls him, because apparently, “Lil' Jemmy” and “His Little Majesty” were Madison’s nicknames growing up, like John’s “Jack”.

Alex twirls a curl around his finger (with Maria’s permission because he learned his lesson when Angelica decked him for touching her hair without asking first) and wistfully states his jealousy over Maria, John, and Peggy’s similar hair types. Maria scoffs and explains to him how his straight hair is much easier to care for.

Maria learns new things about the Hamilsquad- no, their friend group which is decidedly  _ not _ being called the Hamilsquad because despite what Alexander thinks, the world doesn’t revolve around him.

For example, Hercules, for all of his muscle and athletic ability, cannot skate for shit. He’s constantly holding onto the walls and wobbling like a baby calf.

Lafayette, on the other hand, is elegant as ever, performing tricks and complex turns around corners like a fucking figure skater. This isn’t so surprising given their ballet past. John is nearly as good.

Initially, John sang to himself to keep his balance as he warmed up. Something about keeping his voice even makes him feel like he’s skating even. His smooth, husky voice is beyond lovely, so Maria can’t complain at all.

Alexander is only a little better at skating than Maria expected. The poor boy has probably developed balance and become agile by standing on wobbly desks and tiny chairs during arguments with Jefferson, who, by the way, Alexander has intentionally knocked over twice. At first, the “Future Treasury Secretary” (as he calls himself) slips and falls here and there, but is determined to master the art.

Maria herself strolls easily with Angelica, Aaron, and John. None of them are as clumsy as baby giraffes on skates, but neither are they spinning around like Lafayette.

And Eliza? It doesn’t matter if Eliza were better than Lafayette (which is probably impossible anyway), worse than Hercules, or more embarrassing than Alexander’s inflated ego. Of course, she’s quite good because Elizabeth Schuyler has a knack for being good at everything. She holds hands with her sisters as they twirl each other around the floor.

Right as Maria begins being able to focus on her conversation with her favorite freckled pre-med student and the eldest Schuyler Sister, the DJ announces a “couples dance”. Because she’s not part of a couple, she begins skating to the exit and finding their booth. Then, of course, is when Eliza rushes to find her and calls out to her.

“Maria! Come be my partner!” she shouts, not loud enough to create a disturbance but not quiet enough for Maria to pretend not to hear her.

Maria takes in a deep breath and exhales exasperatedly before turning to look back at Eliza. “I’m not very good,” she says. “If I fall- which I will- so will you.”

“You have to believe in yourself, Maria,” Eliza says because she’s actually probably a Disney princess. This had been her message for Maria since they met.

Maria rolls her eyes with a loving smile and takes Eliza’s outstretched hand. Eliza pulls her close a little too harshly and Maria flies into her arms. In a miraculous feat of heroism, Eliza ensures that neither of them fall. They pull away and begin rolling around the rink, hands intertwined as ordered by the DJ.

The strobes that light up the floor have turned pink and the main lights have dimmed. Rosy hearts streak across the floor. A love song blasts a little too loudly over the aged speakers, some 1980s light rock slow jam that makes Maria want to hide. She keeps her gaze on the floor.

“Mia, you’re being so shy,” Eliza notes.

Maria looks up at her, heart melting at the nickname. Eliza’s brow is furrowed, but her one dimple is showing so she must be holding back a confused smile. She gives Maria’s hand three squeezes and that’s the moment Maria realizes she’s done for.

“You’ve been acting differently around me for the past few weeks,” Eliza says. Her inquiring grin turns into a hurt frown. “Did I do something wrong?”

Maria fights the overwhelming urge to be cowardly and run away. Does she tell Eliza how she feels?

“Maria, are you okay?” Eliza asks, worried. She must’ve noticed Maria’s breathing picking up. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I just.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong, Betsey,” Maria replies, trying to be reassuring by using the nickname.

She’s not sure what else to say. Does she make an excuse? She’s just… not ready to confess. She needs time, not an impulse delivery in the middle of a skating rink playing “Like a Prayer” with sweat beads dripping down her forehead. Then, she figures that honesty is the best policy.

“Just… don’t worry, okay? I’m okay. And you’re absolutely perfect,” Maria says. She doesn’t miss Eliza’s blush at this. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

Maria squeezes Eliza’s hand in three successions. It’s obvious then that Eliza’s worry has decreased. Being Eliza, it’s only natural for her to worry about her friends. Peggy says it’s because Eliza’s a Leo with a Cancer Venus, so has a natural disposition to be a worry wart over her loved ones. Still, Maria is sure she’s assured her as much as she possibly can. Maria is jealous of Eliza’s patience, how fully she trusts that Maria is truly okay and that she’ll open up when she’s ready.

“You promise you’re okay?” Eliza asks.

Three years have passed since Maria left James, but Eliza is still prone to worry that Maria is hiding something dangerous the way she hid the, erm,  _ details _ of their relationship. Maria thought she hid it well, but Eliza wasn’t as surprised as Maria fretted her friend would be when she showed up at her door at 3 AM with a bloody nose and a busted lip. To this day, Maria isn’t sure if Eliza had her suspicions prior to Maria confiding in her or if she was already well-versed in the etiquette of befriending an abuse survivor. She’s pretty sure that Eliza would’ve confronted her if she thought something was wrong, so she must’ve just known what to do. To not react with shock or surprise or threats against James. Eliza was obviously angry- her eyes gave her away. But she didn’t speak her anger aloud, only worked on comforting Maria and letting her cry. It was the first time Maria went to someone for help. Eliza, being an education major and student teacher, had resources ready at hand. Sat with Maria as she called doctor’s offices and therapists. Didn’t pressure her to press charges.

In short, Maria’s friends’ minds tend to assume the worst after she hid that for so long.

“I promise,” Maria says.

-

Maria slams her open notebook down on the dark table, right in front of Burr’s placemat.

“I made this,” she says.

“Hey there, Maria!” he says with a big, sarcastic grin, mocking her for not greeting him whatsoever. “I’m great. How are you?”

Maria sighs and smiles. 

“Hi, Aaron,” she says.

The seat she moves to sit in is an obnoxious red, worn and cracked. Aaron has already ordered her a Shirley Temple, which she thanks him for. He knows her well.

He reads through The List. Last night, Maria devised a plan to get Eliza to fall in love with her by New Year’s Eve.

“I like the prologue,” he says. “You put a lot of thought into this.”

Maria tries to not curl in on herself. She’s not a particularly good writer, but she tried.

_ “New Year’s kisses mean ringing in the New Year with someone you love. This ensures that this relationship will happily last at least the rest of that entire year. This is why it’s important that Eliza falls in love with me in time to be my New Year’s kiss. _

_ Step 1: _

_ Body language. Be all touchy-feely and flirty. Try to make her flustered.” _

“Be all touchy-feely and flirty?” Burr questions, looking up and raising an eyebrow. “You two already can’t keep your hands off of each other.”

Maria huffs. “Well, now it’ll be more… I don’t know. Like, how you touch a partner.”

Aaron raises an eyebrow. 

“So, you’re going to grope Eliza to make her fall in love with you?”

“God, no,” Maria says with a scowl. “That would be super uncool. Also, she would punch me. And rightfully so. I mean, like, touching her thigh, or leaning in extra close. That type of touching, not creepy touching.”

Burr nods in agreement.

_ “Step 2: _

_ Tell her how much I love and care about her.” _

Eliza knows how much Maria loves her. The issue is that it’s all  _ normal _ stuff. Hyping up her posts on Instagram. Hugging her as a greeting. Telling her she’s beautiful. Maria needs to  _ step up her game _ . Hype up Eliza  _ more _ . Send her a long text about how beautiful she is and how Maria hopes she has a good day. Heart emojis and all that shit.

_ “Step 3: _

_ Send her a picture of something that reminds me of her or pick her up a little gift to let her know I was thinking of her throughout the day.” _

Eliza does this for Maria already. She’s always been a gift-giver. Giving things here and there, making her and Maria matching friendship bracelets, picking up a little souvenir for Maria whenever she travels.

Step three might get in the way a little bit seeing as Christmas time is creeping in closer and Maria’s already working on shopping for her friends. She wants to give Eliza all of her gifts on Christmas, so she’ll probably choose the latter option of sending her a text about something that reminded her of Eliza and maybe pick her up a little trinket. Now is not the season to over-do step three.

“I like step four,” Aaron says. “Very cute.”

_ “Step 4: _

_ Ask the barista to write flirtatious remarks on the cup when I get coffee for Eliza.” _

The list then goes on to list a few potential remarks. Some cheesy pickup lines, some pet names.

_ “Step 5: _

_ New Year’s party.” _

“Step five is very vague,” Aaron notes, looking at her over the notebook.

“I kind of didn’t know what to put,” Maria admits. “I guess I’m just gonna kind of wing it that night. Maybe, like, mix all of the other steps together.”

“Would you like my advice?” Aaron offers.

“Of course,” Maria replies, bracing herself. Aaron loves giving advice and the worst part about it is that he always gives the best advice. Meaning that he gives advice that Maria is sometimes not ready to hear or that she becomes defensive at. Still, he’s always right.

“This is Hamilton and John’s party, right?”

Maria nods.

“I know for a fact they keep mistletoe up until about Valentine’s Day. So get Eliza under a piece of mistletoe and ask her to be your New Year’s kiss,” he suggests.

The waitress comes to their table as Maria leans over the table, grabs his cheeks, and presses a loud kiss against each side of his face.

“You’re a genius!” she gushes.

The waitress clears her throat.

-

“ _ Die Hard _ is the best Christmas movie,” Hercules states calmly but stubbornly with his arms crossed. “Period.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You are an idiot, Herc,” Lafayette shouts. When they shout, their voice raises in pitch and their eyes become wild. It’s quite endearing to Maria, actually. “The best Christmas movie is obviously  _ Love, Actually _ !”

“I’m surprised you didn’t say  _ The Nutcracker _ ,” Alex remarks from the couch.

“ _ The Nutcracker  _ is a ballet and a ballet only,” Lafayette says.

“Maria, tell them it’s  _ Elf _ ,” John pleads.

“It’s  _ Elf _ ,” Peggy states.

“Yeah, definitely between  _ Elf  _ and  _ Love, Actually _ ,” Maria agrees. The holidays were never really a  _ thing  _ for her until she met her friends. Growing up, her family never had enough money to celebrate, nor did they care that much. Plus, working holidays meant getting paid overtime, so her parents, both servers, were usually at their respective jobs on Christmas.

“I can’t believe y’all,” Hercules whines. “My own Hercusquad.”

“ _ Hercusqaud _ ?” Angelica guffaws from the other end of the couch.

Eliza returns to the living room with two giant bags of popcorn. “Alright, I’ve got kettle corn and hella butter corn,” she says, not knowing the mess she’s walked into.

“If Alex can have ‘Hamilsquad’, then why can’t I have ‘Hercusquad’?” Hercules challenges.

Eliza stops in her tracks and gives Maria a blank, deadpan look.

“Hercules has a point,” Thomas says from beside Angelica.

“First of all, who even invited you, Fuckerson?” Alexander hisses.

“First of all, I’m friends with literally everyone here except for you and John, Hamilshit,” Thomas sneers in return.

Alexander shakes his head. “I can’t believe y’all are friends with this motherfucking Southern bullshitter,” he chastises, looking around at his friends.

“I can’t believe y’all are friends with this tiny gremlin,” Thomas returns, staring only at Alexander.

“I feel like it should be Lafsquad,” Lafayette says. “Since I’m genuinely super close with all of you and everyone loves me because I'm the best.”

Lafayette’s right. They’re good friends with everyone in their little band, whereas Alex is insufferable and hates Jefferson and sometimes Madison and Burr. Hercules and Thomas get along, but they aren’t particularly good friends seeing as Hercules is incredibly loyal to his best friends, which include Alexander and John.

“I like Lafsquad,” Maria says, finally piping up.

“Lafsquad it is,” Angelica agrees.

Eliza steps over her friends until she makes her way over to Maria, falling gracefully to sit half on the couch and half on her best friend.

The rest of their friends, though they’ve agreed on “Lafsquad”, continue bickering over the best Christmas movie. Burr, to absolutely no one’s surprise, says that he likes them all and that he just likes to enjoy the holidays and watch as many as he can. Alex insults Burr underhandedly, but Maria thinks that Burr is sweet for wanting to spend the holidays watching movies with his friends.

“Hi,” Eliza says quietly, only loud enough for Maria to hear.

Maria feels so much more in love than she could’ve anticipated back when she was preparing peanut butter and jellies for the two of them. Back in the easy days. A month ago.

“Hi,” she says with a goofy grin.

They share a secret smile, close enough that their foreheads are nearly touching.

“You look beautiful tonight,” Maria says. She goes for flirtatious, but she cringes inwardly at going for such an overused statement.

Eliza scrunches up her nose in silent disagreement. 

“I’m wearing pajamas and no makeup."

“ _ Special _ pajamas,” Maria points out, “and it doesn’t matter whether you’re wearing makeup or not. You really are beautiful, Betsey.”

As she says this, she tugs at the collar of Eliza’s flannel pajama shirt. They’re curled up on the sofa and facing each other, wearing matching pajamas. Eliza’s are sea green and Maria’s are a deep red. It’s sickeningly sweet.

Eliza blushes. Aquamarine really is her color, especially when she has a high, pink blush on her cheeks.

She reaches up and takes Maria’s hand from where she was still gripping the collar. Keeps their intertwined hands between them. Maria decides she’s especially fond of step one.

“Just kiss already,” Alexander groans. “Y’all are grosser than John and I.”

“‘ _ Y’all _ ’,” John scoffs teases. “I’m rubbing off on you.”

Eliza turns her neck and Maria looks over Eliza’s shoulder to see most of their friends staring at them.

“Oh, leave them alone,” Angelica orders and because she’s Angelica, notoriously lethal protector of her younger sisters, everyone listens to her.

Suddenly aware of their closeness, the girls separate. Eliza clears her throat and sits up to stretch.

Instead of replying to Angelica or acknowledging the glares in his direction, Alex turns his eyes to John and winks. “You can rub off on me anytime.”

“See, Hamilton, look what you did,” Thomas sighs, blaming Alexander for Maria and Eliza being no longer happily huddled together. He pinches the bridge of his nose while Alexander rolls his eyes.

-

Maria takes a picture of the lone daisy that’s managed to survive the winter, growing through the cracks of the sidewalk.

_ ‘this reminded me of u! you’re wonderful and i hope you’re enjoying your day’  _ she types under Eliza’s contact. Satisfied with the message, she presses ‘Send’.

Bam. Step three completed.

-

It’s 2AM. Also known as the time of night where if Maria’s awake, she panics over every interaction. Thinks her friends hate her. Thinks she’s embarrassing and her friends only tolerate her because they pity her. She reflects on everything embarrassing she said over the past week- that particularly cringe-worthy comment she made to Alex, how she was on the receiving end of Angelica’s cold glare, how Washington dismissed her. She feels her breathing pick up as she’s unable to rationalize her thoughts.

She’s been getting better at this. At calming herself down, telling herself that her friends love her, that she’s fulfilled in her relationships, that everyone says awkward things sometimes. She digs her fingers into her palm.

What if Washington is annoyed by her constant suggestions and wants to fire her? If James finds and contacts her new number again? If Angelica hates her? And then, if Angelica hates her, Eliza might hate her, and therefore Peggy will, too, and then Hercules, and John, and  _ everyone _ .

Her room is dark. She clenches her eyes shut tight to avoid looking around, which makes a few teardrops slip down her cheeks. Her stomach hurts.

She’s an idiot for thinking that she has a chance with Eliza, who’s sweet and patient and determined and completely undeserving of Maria and all of the trouble she’ll inevitably bring. Debates rummaging through her bag to find the notebook and tear it all apart. Instead, she snatches her phone off of the nightstand and unplugs it from its charger. Finds music to play through her speaker.

The outfit she intends on wearing to the New Year’s Eve party next week is folded on top of her dresser. Should she even go anymore? All she’ll do is embarrass herself. Look like a complete idiot when she talks to Eliza.

She stands. Opens her sheer curtains to see a nearly full moon, blindingly white and companioned with a single bead of light. Although only a few stars peek out of the smoke and clouds, the sky is strangely clear for New York City.

That’s when she decides to toss her hair up to avoid the wind blowing it in her face and put on the fluffiest coat she possibly can because a clear night sky in a city means cold and windy.

The fire escape is right outside of the window in her living room. As she climbs through the window, she scrapes her knee on the beat-up pane. Unlike Angelica and Eliza, she’s by no means thin. It took her years and lots of encouraging Post-It notes stuck all around her mirrors, but she’s come to love her thick thighs. Has come to learn that it’s not really about how she looks. That she’d have spent all of that time hating herself no matter what her body looked like.

She loves her body, knows that it’s worth all of the love she has. She just doesn’t like the  _ inconvenience _ of being so curvy. Pants that are snug around her ass always gape at the waist.  Tight-fitting shirts that fit around her arms and chest are baggy around her waist. Small windows are a pain in the ass to climb through.

The fire escape is rusty and creaks and Maria is a little afraid of heights, but she takes deep breaths and clutches onto the throw blanket she carries under her arm. The fear of falling overpowers the fear that comes with her negative self-talk, so that has to count for something.

When she reaches the roof of her apartment complex, she crosses her legs on the concrete, wraps the yellow blanket- a gift from Peggy- around her shoulders, and just  _ breathes _ .

She’s lucky to be alive, much less thriving in her career and relationships. She’s rising with increasing acceleration, committed to beating Alex in their little race of who can make it into Washington’s Cabinet when he inevitably runs for President in the next elections, although he has yet to publicly announce his race. Her friends love her just as much as she loves them and yes, she does have the courage to confront Eliza. She’s so excited for the party that she’s already had her outfit and necklace and makeup waiting on her dresser a week prior. The new year is arriving. Everything is okay.

-

Maria smiles happily as she struts along the brick path. She’s got step four in the bag.

Of course, the coffee shop is busy and Peggy, who Maria is  _ not _ going to ask to write a pickup line on the cup, is shouting orders out at Hercules, who works at his old place of employment over breaks because he is not paid enough as a security guard, because they  _ can _ . Nothing gets the nineteen year old riled up like being in charge of people older than them, especially since they’ve been known as Angelica and Eliza’s baby sister their whole life.

Peggy is one of Maria’s favorite people. All of the Schuyler sisters are fierce and lovable and unique. Peggy, though. Peggy has a wit and energy unlike any other. Angelica is brilliant beyond belief and Eliza is bright, but Peggy’s sarcasm and creative thinking outranks any humor that Maria’s experienced thus far. Maybe they both just have the same slightly messed up sense of comedy, but Peggy’s deadpan jokes and sneaky pranks leave Maria unable to catch her breath with laughter.

“Maria! My favorite future Mrs. Schuyler!” Peggy yells happily. The volume of their voice makes the majority occupants of the shop turn in curiosity.

“Shut up,” Maria says with a blush. Although it’s been a few weeks since she cut her hair, she’s unused to not being able to hide behind her locks.

“You make a move on my sister yet?” the youngest Schuyler asks boldly.

The thing with Peggy is that they say what everyone’s thinking without hesitation. And they’re  _ intense _ . Like Aaron, their opinion is always trustworthy, but sometimes harsh, usually leaving Maria stuttering. Like right now. Everything Peggy does, they do with a “Yeah, I said it” attitude. But although they appear to have no filter around their friends, they know when to be charming and gracious. They’re generous and will go out of the way for those they love without a second thought, but wow, they can be blunt.

“Um, I-”

“Just kidding,” Peggy says with a wink before immediately retracting their statement. “Not really. Please date her.”

“You’re an incredible wingman, Peggy,” Maria says sarcastically. “Very lowkey.”

“Lowkey like your feelings for my sister?” Peggy replies, cocking their head to the side in true Peggy fashion.

“I want a maple latte,” Maria says. She drops her voice down to a shy mutter when she gives Peggy Eliza’s order. “Andahazelnutsoymilklatte.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Peggy asks with raised eyebrows and a shit-eating smirk.

Maria pauses and says only a hair louder, “A hazelnut soy milk latte.”

“Ha!” Peggy shouts, slamming down their Sharpie-wielding left hand on the marble counter. “You’re bringing this to my sister!”

“Shut up,” Maria repeats.

Peggy hums braggadociously as they gaze at Maria as if to inspect her, then scrawls on the cups. Maria can’t imagine Peggy writing anything normal or acceptable on the cardboard. They then go about making Maria’s order, making their best attempts to froth the soy milk.

Once Peggy’s finished and popping on the lids, they shout, “Order up for the sexiest lady I have _ever_ had the pleasure of frothing non-dairy milk for in the red lipstick!”

Every patron in the cafe quiets and turns to stare at Maria, who shrinks in on herself and clears her throat.

Maria spins the paper cup around, knowing that Peggy most likely wrote something incriminating on it, and gives a panicked screech.

“Peggy, what if she sees this?” she gasps when she sees step four taken care of on the side: “Are you Little Caesars? Because you’re hot and I’m ready.”

“I tried to make it look like your handwriting so she would think you wrote it,” Peggy explains.

And. Yeah. They did. They dotted the ‘i’ with a circle and turned the letters into a cursive-print mess like Maria does.

“I’m going to get you back for this,” Maria threatens.

“I look forward to it,” Peggy challenges. “Have a good day, Mrs.-”

“Don’t you dare,” Maria growls.

Peggy smiles innocently. “Miss Maria Lewis.”

It isn’t until she’s a block away from Eliza’s apartment building that she notices the “Mrs. Lewis Schuyler” written on the second cup in not-quite-cursive with a circle dotted ‘i’.

-

Before Maria knows it, she’s at Eliza’s front door. Her hands are occupied with holding coffee, so she rings the doorbell by pressing her nose against the button.

“Didn’t I give you a key?” Eliza asks with a big smile on her face when she opens the door.

“Hands are full,” Maria explains, holding out Eliza’s cup and deciding not to point out the little comment written on the side.

Eliza accepts it with a smile as she lets Maria through and shuts the door behind them. She immediately draws the cup to her lips. Maria nearly groans because Eliza has really pretty lips and it’s just  _ not fair _ . To dig the dagger in deeper, she smiles at Maria behind the cup of coffee.

“I just have to grab my coat and we can go,” Eliza states, rushing around her house to find her coat and gloves. The roots of her sleek, straight hair are already covered by a black beret.

“Could you hold this for a second?” she asks, holding her latte out toward Maria, who takes the cup from her.

Eliza seems a little frazzled, so Maria asks, “Are you alright?”

Eliza tries to laugh convincingly but the sound comes out awkward and choked. “Ha, yeah, I’m fine,” she says. “Lafayette, Peggy, and Hercules are meeting us at your place, right?”

“Just Hercules, Peggy, and Alex. Lafayette is getting ready or whatever at Washington’s.” Maria gives her a slightly bewildered look. “And… okay? I guess?”

As Eliza trusts her, Maria trusts Eliza to open up when she’s ready. Eliza’s always been such a certain woman. Determined, strong, and knows herself well. She sends Maria an awkward smile because she realizes Maria knows she’s lying about being fine.

Eliza slips her coat on, takes her latte back, and grabs a giant handbag. She and Maria head out.

“Wait, I’m sorry, did you say that Laf is getting ready at  _ Washington’s _ ?” Eliza asks in the elevator. “As in, their boss, Senator-slash-future-president Washington?”

Maria nods with a blank look and the elevator. Hearing Lafayette talk about Washington, their attempted flirting with their boss, and “all of the things [Lafayette] would do to that man” has worn Maria down beyond her years. 

“Yup. I’m pretty sure Lafayette’s going to finally make a move tonight," Maria says wearily.

“They haven’t already?” Eliza questions.

“Oh, they absolutely have, but Washington’s all like ‘You’re the sexiest motherfucker to ever advise me but I’m your boss and you’re like, twenty’,” Maria says, putting on her best Washington impression while saying things that Washington would never actually say, but that share the same sentiment. “And then Lafayette is all, ‘First of all, I’m twenty-five. Second of all, please let me suck your dick.’”

Eliza shakes her head and giggles, “Lafayette puts that poor man through hell.”

“They put  _ me _ through hell by working with the both of them. They literally eyefuck all day and on one hand I hate having to hear about Lafayette’s Washington fantasies, but on the other hand, I’m like… kind of rooting for them?" Maria complains.

“Yeah, same,” Eliza agrees.

Maria’s apartment isn’t far- only three blocks, or about a five minute walk. The lack of distance between their houses (and the houses of the entire Lafsquad because somehow, none of them live very far from one another) makes late nights and breakdowns in which either of them need the comfort and company of the other convenient.

Going from the pounding heat being forced through the vents in the apartment building’s lobby to the bitter cold of the city makes Maria huddle a little closer to Eliza.

Right after the second block, Eliza takes Maria’s hand.

“Is this okay?” Eliza asks for confirmation.

Maria nods rushedly and rubs her thumb along the back of Eliza’s delicate hands. There’s no reason for it to not be okay. They’re best friends. They’ve held hands plenty of times. Of course it’s different for Maria now, but why does it seem like it feels different for Eliza, too? Why is she asking if it’s okay?

Maria’s heart beats wildly against her chest, her pulse jumping erratically up to her throat, for the rest of the walk to her apartment.

And that’s how they end up back in front of Maria’s bathroom mirror. Before every party, the two get ready together. A little over half of the time, they dance around Maria’s bathroom with music playing, singing together. Just like the day of roller skating back in late November. Except this time, Maria can handle herself a little better around Eliza. This time, she doesn’t hold her breath as much as she did at first and she sings loudly.

Maria laughs loudly as Eliza tries to rap and fails horribly.

“I ain’t a killer but fuck it, pop, pop!” she shouts more than raps as Maria sways her hips beside her.

Eliza’s musically gifted, for sure. She can play piano fluently and her voice is beyond angelic. But for all of her musical ability and magical way of feeling and creating beats, she kind of can’t dance for shit. Maria’s ass is dangerously low to the ground when Eliza’s hip knocks into Maria’s shoulder and sends her to the ground with a deep yelp.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Eliza shouts, already spewing apologizes. Maria just laughs uncontrollably in response.

“Help me up, will you?” she manages through giggles. Eliza joins in and takes her outstretched hand, but they’re both too weak with laughter to do anything besides hold onto each other as Maria tries to stand and falls back.

Eventually, Maria’s able to get to her knees and finally, back onto her feet. Eliza tugs her a little too hard and they end up face-to-face. Like, the noses touching, heavy blushes on both of their faces, hands gripped tight with nervousness and affection type of face-to-face.

“Your freckles are really cute,” Maria says in a nervous, accidental attempt at step one.

“Maria,” Eliza sighs, leaning in a little closer. Maria raises her hand the slightest bit to trace Eliza’s lips. Her eyes are still closed.

“Hey, what’s this song? It fucking slaps,” comes a loud voice from the door. “Oh, shit, my bad. I didn’t realize I was interrupting something.”

Maria jumps away from Eliza.

Of fucking course it’s Hamilton. Again.

Maria closes her eyes in frustration despite the hot blush that tingles her cheeks like electrocution and honestly, she might as well be fucking electrocuted. How is she going to live through the embarrassment?

She’d left the door unlocked for Peggy, Hercules, and Alex to let themselves in the apartment. This was when she never thought Eliza would nearly kiss her in a million years.

“What’s going-“ Peggy begins, rounding about the door but stopping before fully entering the room. “Alex, you’re an  _ idiot _ .”

Classic Peggy.

“Shouldn’t you be helping your boyfriend set up the party, anyways?” Eliza asks, finally piping up. Even  _ she _ sounds like she’s losing her patience.

Maria turns to see Alexander pouting. “He said I make too much of a mess and he loves me but I’m a disaster.”

“He’s right,” Maria says.

“I know,” Alexander sighs. Then, he perks up. “But, he said there’s a surprise!”

“Oh?” Eliza questions with curiosity.

“Hey, Alex-“ Hercules starts, coming up behind Peggy and Alex. He stops in his tracks and frowns. “Are you being an idiot again?”

“Yes,” Alex, Peggy, and Eliza groan simultaneously.

“Come on, you two,” Hercules says, ushering Alexander and Peggy out of the hallway and out to the living room.

Maria isn’t sure what to say or do when they leave. Eliza  _ acknowledged  _ that Alexander was an idiot for interrupting something. Eliza leaning closer to Maria with her eyes closed wasn’t just Maria’s imagination. Not only that, but it wasn’t like the group’s movie night when they became flustered with their friends’ teasing and avoided any physical contact for an entire week. Eliza didn’t jump away like Maria did when Alex barged in. Suddenly, she feels guilty for leaving Eliza standing there.

“Eliza,” she tries. Maybe she can fix this.

“Should I do glitter?” Eliza begins to ramble, obviously trying to change the subject. “I mean, it’s New Year’s Eve. I should go all out, right?”

Maria gives up with a defeated sigh.

“Yeah,” she advises, trying to smile and ignore that she probably fucked up her first, last, and only chance to express to Eliza how she feels. God, they were  _ so close _ .

“You should, too,” Eliza suggests.

Seeing Eliza nervous but happy makes Maria genuinely smile again. “Yeah,” she says.

A half an hour later, glitter covers the entire bathroom and Maria is running down her hallway, chasing Eliza into the living room.

“Get over here!” she laughs.

Prior to this, Eliza sprinkled some glitter into her palm and blew it across Maria’s face. Maria gasped and went to retaliate, but Eliza was already running from the fight she started.

“Woah, woah,” Hercules says, holding his hands out in front of him an attempt to keep the peace.

“Glitter war!” Peggy cheers.

Maria takes a small handful of glitter from the plastic bag and throws it at an elated Peggy. Some of it finds its way into Hercules’ short but tightly coiled hair.

“I will like, never be able to get this out,” he complains. Once he cheers up, he chases after Maria.

“No!” she yelps. “Get Eliza! She started it!”

“No! Get Maria!” Eliza shouts with a bright smile on her face and her loud, cheerful laugh filling the room. She ducks behind island in the kitchen as Maria throws glitter at her head.

“Alex, you’re boring,” Peggy remarks to the man on the couch for not joining in the fun. “And a cockblock.”

That’s how two hours later, John sighs out a disappointed, “I sent him with you guys to babysit him, and he comes home covered in glitter and lipstick marks,” as he opens the door to his and Alex’s apartment and sees a glitter-bombed Maria, Eliza, Peggy, Hercules, and Alexander.

“It was Eliza’s fault!” Maria insists at the same time Eliza goes, “It was Maria’s fault!”

“First of all, I am a fully capable adult,” Alexander insists. “Second of all, you expected _ Peggy _ to babysit me, therefore it’s your fault.”

John tilts his head to the side in defeat. “You’re right,” he admits. “Come on in, y’all.”

“Ah ha!” Alex shouts pointedly. “Get the Y’all Jar.”

“The Y’all Jar?” Eliza questions, scrunching up her nose. Maria swoons.

“Whenever one of us says ‘y’all’ or something equally Southern, we have to put a quarter in the Y’all Jars. I have one and John has one. Mine is green and his is blue. Whoever fills the jar first has to use the money from both jars to buy a cowboy hat and boots and wear them for an entire month,” Alex explains.

“That’s so cruel,” Maria says.

“That’s a great idea!” Peggy encourages with a wildly happy, admiring look. “Alex, I hope you fucking lose.”

Alex glares at them.

Eliza goes for the champagne in the kitchen, pouring a glass for herself and another for Maria after asking Maria what she wants to drink.

They chat a bit because they  _ always  _ have something to talk about. That’s one of the things that Maria loves most about their dynamic. Even though they’ve known each other for quite some time and talk about anything and everything all the time, they never run out of things to say. And everything Eliza says is absolute magic. Her dreams and fears and ideals, or even just about her day or her favorite songs. Maria loves hearing about it all.

Then, they see Lafayette and Washington all over each other, Lafayette mumbling randomly in French between kisses.

Maria looks to Eliza, whose face shows how repulsed she is. “Do I want to know?” she asks to her friend who’s fluent in French.

“Absolutely not,” Eliza says. “I don’t even think Washington wants to know.”

“Gross,” Maria says. “It’s going to be a long night with all of these disgusting couples. Cheers.”

“Absolutely repulsive. Cheers,” Eliza replies.

They clink their glasses together and down the contents easily.

-

Eliza dances like a white mom after getting a little too lit in an attempt to “feel young again”, but at least she isn’t knocking over Maria this time.

Peggy, on the other hand, is dancing alone, not paying attention to those around her and consequently hitting everyone within her radius.

Angelica is dancing with Jefferson and Madison and yeah, okay, the three are definitely not sober. The typically cool, collected James Madison is grinding on Angelica, who’s grinding on Jefferson.

Alex, who was previously playing a bastardized version of Monopoly-turned-drinking-game, except he and John have had no more than one drink themselves- with a now-detached Washington, Lafayette, and too many partygoers for Maria to take a headcount of, is now dancing with Maria and letting Monopoly money rain on her, both of them shouting, “I got money everywhere!” along to the song. Maria is probably the best dancer here, and that’s not  _ just _ the alcohol-induced confidence talking. Or maybe it is because she’s totally fine with guiding his hands to grab her ass.

Then,  _ the  _ song comes on. The one that gets Maria and Eliza excited like no other. That makes them shout at the top of their lungs.

“Betsey!” Maria calls, searching through the crowd for her best friend. They scream happily when they find each other and hug.

Drunk Eliza is a better dancer than sober Eliza. That, or the song alone suddenly makes her dance like Maria.

“I love this song!” Eliza squeals, louder than she probably intended.

They dance way too close and stumble most of the way through, though Maria turns her back to Eliza and drops down to the floor, drags her hands up her thighs as she comes back up.

Sometime around 11:30, Eliza and Maria find their way onto a balcony because yeah, their friends are cool enough and financially stable enough to afford a house with a motherfucking  _ balcony _ . They’re both wearing tight dresses. Maria’s has thin straps instead of sleeves and a flare at the waist.

Suddenly Eliza, leans forward to hug Maria and giggles into her neck. “Are you Little Caesars?” she laughs, going from a tipsy giggle to a howl.

Maria burst out with a cackle immediately. “You noticed that?” she gasps between laughter.

“Yes, but I was too shy to say anything!” Eliza admits, finally pulling her face away from Maria’s shoulder to make eye contact.

Even though she pulls away the slightest bit, Eliza places her hands on Maria’s hips. Maria is tipsy enough- maybe drunk- to not feel the cool sting of the cold air that belongs only to Decembers. She doesn’t feel the freezing temperature, but she does feel her heart beat harshly against her ribs. Eliza smells intoxicatingly clean and flowery and Maria runs a hand through Eliza’s sleek, straight hair, drags her hand over to cup Eliza’s cheek. Everything about Eliza’s appearance was soft. Her face, her hair, her hands that are placed gently on Maria.

“I always thought I was little jealous of your body,” Eliza admits, a little less drunk than she was only a half an hour ago. The midnight air must’ve sobered her up a bit.

“Eliza, you’re lovely,” Maria says, a little shocked.

“No, I mean, I’m not jealous,” Eliza attempts to clarify and grips Maria a little harder. “You’re curvy and beautiful, but I think I- it’s just- you’re  _ gorgeous _ .”

Somehow, Maria understands what Eliza is trying to communicate. She remembers her first year of college, where she suddenly and amusingly realized that she wasn’t  _ jealous _ of a good few particularly pretty girls in high school- she was  _ attracted  _ to them. She smiles goofy as she watches Eliza recall the same emotions.

“Eliza, you know...” Maria says and touches the tip of Eliza’s nose with the hand that isn’t balanced on Eliza’s shoulder. “I always love your freckles. And how you scrunch up your nose when you really like or dislike something, or when you’re confused.” She drags her finger down to Eliza’s bottom lip. “And your lips. And how you smile really wide.” Turns her hand to cup Eliza’s cheek and drag her thumb across Eliza’s eyelids once they close. The countdown starts at  _ ten. _ “And your eyes. And how they light up whenever you make a decision or see someone you love.”

_ Nine. _

“God, I love you,” she lets slip with a giggle and wow, that is  _ not  _ what she meant to say.

_ Eight. _

“What?” Eliza gasps, opening and widening her eyes. Of course, of fucking  _ course _ , Eliza realizes that Maria wasn’t expressing her love in a purely platonic way.

_ Seven. _

People are shouting with increasing volume, which would definitely hurt Maria’s head if she were in the midst of it instead of on the balcony with Eliza and the winter air.

_ Six. _

Maria decides at  _ five  _ to quit beating around the bush or bitching out. Stop backing away each time she got closer to Eliza.

“I love you,” she repeats, sounding soft but feeling fiercely bold.

_ Four. _

“Maria,” Eliza sighs with a smile. Maria doesn’t fear what Eliza might say next as much as she probably should. She’s still expecting Eliza to turn away. To tell her she doesn’t feel the same and that Maria’s misread everything. Not, “I’d always hoped- I. Be my New Year’s kiss?”

_ Three. _

Maria can only nod. Mistletoe is still strung up the threshold close to them. She would drag Eliza under the mistletoe, but the cold air was so perfect and she wanted to be alone with Eliza, not with one foot still in the party. Eliza’s hands move from Maria’s hips to her waist, dragging her skirt up the slightest bit.

_ Two. _

They get so much closer. Maria can’t remember if their bodies have been pressed together the whole time or if Eliza pulled her closer. Their foreheads touch. Maria is so gone.

_ One. _

And they kiss. A bit of Maria had worried that it wouldn’t be all she hoped for but it  _ is  _ and she’s absolutely dizzy with it. She wraps her arms around Eliza’s neck. Eliza kisses the same way that she makes decisions: fiercely and certain. The same way she holds Maria’s hand on the subway to keep her from leaning too far as the train comes to a stop: delicate and steadying. The same way her fingertips run up and down Maria’s body, from her waist to her thighs and back: fiery and gentle. Eliza kisses like all of this at once.

It’s magical. Maria feels like stars and glitter and fire and  _ happiness _ .

When they break away, so hesitantly, Maria isn’t sure what to say. They continuously go back for short but meaningful kisses because they have all of the time in the world for this. They hold onto each other impossibly tight. Maria is speechless.

“Maria,” Eliza says breathlessly. Maria is good at words. She swears she is. She’s not the best writer, but she’s usually composed and eloquent in interviews and press conferences. But the way Eliza speaks so low and so simply makes Maria realize that Eliza just has a  _ way _ with words. “I love you.”

The next morning is as magical and enchanting as the night before. At some point, Eliza and Maria crashed on the couch. Maria’s head is so, so foggy, and her head aches like thundering clouds. She’s doesn’t feel hungover, just… heavy.

Peggy is asleep on the floor with Hercules’ abs under their head instead of a pillow and a bottle of beer that’s spilled on the carpet in their hand. Maria smiles. She loves Peggy and Hercules’ friendship.

John and Alex are in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning. The smell of pancakes is what initially wakes up Maria. They must’ve been the ones to throw a blanket over Maria and Eliza, who are curled up together.

“Betsey,” she whispers affectionately. In an attempt to wake her up, Maria squeezes Eliza’s hand in three quick successions. Eliza opens her eyes and groans, but smiles sleepily when she sees Maria.

Maria vaguely remembers Lafayette dragging Washington out the front door sometime after the midnight. Washington was covered in kiss marks that matched the color of Lafayette’s lipstick and actually  _ laughing  _ for once in his life.

Maria can’t remember the rest. She assumes Angelica, Thomas, and James have all gone home. No strangers remain in the house.

“Hey, Alex?” John starts. Maria doesn’t mean to eavesdrop, but she can’t help it when she hears John’s tender voice. He’s naturally affectionate, but he reserves a few tender things for Alex, like The Alex Look and The Alex Voice.

“Yes, my love?” Alexander replies.

The next thing she hears, is Alexander gasp. She thinks he lets out a sob.

She taps on Eliza’s shoulder. Both of them sit up to peek over the back of the couch.

“Is he?” Eliza gasps quietly. “Oh my god, he  _ is _ .”

They watch John on one knee, professing his love for Alexander. His voice is so soothing and full of emotion that it makes Maria yawn.

“I’ve been thinking about it for awhile, but then, I saw you tucking our friends in last night and throwing a blanket over Maria and Eliza,” he says.

Maria and Eliza look at each other and kiss chastely. When they pull away, Maria notices the tears welling up in Eliza’s eyes.

“They’re so cute,” she explains. “I love love.”

“And how gentle and loving you are with them. I thought of how much I want to start a family with you.”

Maria, who’s quite close with John, knows that John and Alexander have talked about starting a family and getting married plenty of times.

“Yes, oh my god,” Alexander says through his tears.

“Sh, I’m not done,” John shushes with a grin. “I love you so much, Alexander. You give me so much courage. I had no idea feeling this way was possible until about two years ago, when I saw your eyes light up when you were arguing with someone. I admire your determination and your brilliance and I just.” He chokes on a sob. “I love you beyond words, Alexander. I can never express it enough. Will you marry me?”

Of course, Alex shouts, “Yes! Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!” and loud enough to wake up a few more people strung across the living room. Peggy groans and makes a weak attempt to chuck the closest thing she can reach, which is a glass bottle, as the source of the noise, but only manages to roll it about two feet.

Maria turns to look at Eliza, who looks back with adoring eyes. Even before she fell in love with her, Maria thought about how Eliza would make a beautiful mother.

Maria impatient and impulsive and madly in love and kisses Eliza with enough force to push her back against the couch.

“I love you,” Eliza says so delicately when they pull away.

Maria keeps her hand cupping Eliza’s cheek and runs her thumb over the bridge of Eliza’s freckled nose.

“I really do love your freckles,” Maria says. Eliza smiles wide with a charming light in her eyes. “And you.”

**Author's Note:**

> DID YOU LIKE THAT REFERENCE TO DRIPPIN FROM THE COLIN EP FROM BLINDSPOTTING? :D
> 
> anyways <3 y'all can find me [on regular tumblr](http://stesichoros.tumblr.com//) _or_ on my fandom tumblr
> 
> i have a paper due today that my professor already gave me an extension for, and i wrote this instead because i started it last week and became DETERMINED to finish it in time to give y'all some marliza fluff in time for new year's eve.
> 
> [here's](https://www.instagram.com/p/BlrekAshkuh/) a picture of jasmine and phillipa to leave you with. happy new years. (can you tell i just learned how to hyperlink and i'm really excited about it? if it weren't for this paper, i'd probably link like hella pictures of pippa and jcj just because they're beautiful.)
> 
> also... i am LOVING the london schuyler sisters and left appearance descriptions vague enough to suit your preferences, hopefully. :)


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